AFAR
by Simply Kim
Summary: “You talk as if you know me so well.” Atobe commented quietly, watching the current cut through the smoothness of its flow. “You ask questions as if we are friends.”


_Second AtoZuka fic for the 30kisses community. Enjoy! _

**TITLE:** Afar

**AUTHOR:** Simply Kim

**PAIRING:** Atobe Keigo + Tezuka Kunimitsu

**FANDOM: **Tennis no Oujisama

**THEME:** # 15 (Perfect Blue)

**DISCLAIMER:** I don't own anything except this... (Piece of crap?) fic. ;

**NOTE #1:** **Blah **or **_Blah _**is for emphasis. **_/Blah/_ **is for conversations over the phone or flashbacks (if any). _/Blah/_ is for the conscience or whatever inner voice there is talking. _Blah _is for thoughts or random Japanese words. Some of these words are footnoted at the end of every page (I'm beginning to understand the need for footnotes in fiction. Thank you dear friend, you know who you are. XD)

* * *

**AFAR**

* * *

"No problem. See you tomorrow then."

Atobe pressed the end key of his mobile phone and sighed, bonelessly slumping on his bed. He had just spent a short amount of time talking to Tezuka after the success of his plans. Somehow, he felt that he owed it to him. After everything that happened, it felt like he was atoning for the pain his plan had caused.

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.

They had quite an understanding, he and Seigaku's captain. Silently, he thought of all the possibilities and all the poking he would go through in order to get himself to squeeze under his skin. He wanted a piece of him – that, he was sure of. After all, all those daydreams weren't there for nothing.

He closed his eyes, and for the first time in weeks, he fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

**OxxxOxxxO**

Atobe approached him, wisps of his hair fanning out in the wind. He seriously felt like some hero in an Italian movie, coming back to see the one he had been hungering to see for so long. In a way it was the truth, and he couldn't refute the insistent fluttering in his stomach as he drew closer.

He hadn't been spotted yet, and for that he was somehow grateful. It only meant that he could still observe him unhampered by norms that would only inhibit him from expressing himself in a much calmer way.

He hadn't changed much since they first met. He was still the same person he had fought with much force over something that may prove to be trivial once they pursued their own goals in life.

His hair was still dishevelled, a fashion that only he could pull off without problems. Atobe didn't have the slightest idea how he could keep a straight face when his hair was all in disarray. It was one of the more complex things about him that made Atobe itch to claw out whatever the cost. However, given the complexity of their relationship – or the lack thereof, he shouldn't be complaining.

It was probably the sudden noise the dry twig he stepped on made that caused the other to turn. With dry humour, Atobe raised a hand, prompting the other to nod in reply. His pace was hurried now – he didn't want him to wait anymore. With a small smile, he called out, loud enough for him to hear...

"Tezuka!"

**OxxxOxxxO**

"Atobe."

Just the mere mention of his name sent shivers up his spine. Coming from Tezuka Kunimitsu, it seemed the greatest compliment anyone had ever given him. He knew as fact that the Seigaku captain never said more than two words at once unless necessary, at least those to whom he did not have a close affinity.

His family name was just a word, but for Atobe it was the world. It described him and no one else. With the other acknowledging him with it felt like he had been accepted. His smile broadened slowly as he took in the other's features from such close range.

They stared at each other, each engrossed in their own thoughts. Silently, Atobe wondered what Tezuka was thinking, acknowledging that it would probably be something serious – if the way the other's gaze focused on his face as if memorising it.

It took a few moments before Atobe finally spoke.

"You haven't changed, I see." He commented, gesturing almost carelessly at the other's physical features, as he was wont to do. "You're still as stiff as ever."

Tezuka gave him a small smile, nodding once before looking elsewhere in seeming nostalgia. "So they said."

"They?"

"Seigaku."

"All of them?"

He nodded, gaze switching back to him, eyes sparkling in what seemed like humour. "Oishi started it."

Atobe nodded; crossed for some reason upon learning he wasn't the first one who made such comment. "Your _fukubuchou_, huh." He muttered, sitting down.

At first, Tezuka seemed unsure, but the expression was erased instantly and he sat down beside him, carefully avoiding his hand that was his source of balance, acting like a pole, keeping him from lying on his back. "You – We shouldn't be sitting here." He commented, making Atobe's attention shift back to him, a brow raised in question.

"Why not?"

"You don't like dirty places."

They were on the grassy slope beside the main road, and the river ran freely before them, untainted – uninterrupted. It was something Atobe had learned to enjoy recently, when he slid down by accident after exhausting himself practicing for the upcoming game against American players. "I changed my mind." He said airily, trying to hide his embarrassment over such uncharacteristic act.

There was a tremor of what seemed like amusement that visibly ran through Tezuka, and Atobe wondered if he was just amused or he was actually laughing at him – albeit inwardly. The moment passed by quickly, and soon, silence descended.

"Why did you make me come here?" he asked curiously after a short period of deliberation.

"I needed company." Tezuka answered just as quietly.

"And I was your first choice."

"Yes."

Atobe sighed, adjusting his position until he was facing him earnestly. "Okay, what is it really?"

Tezuka heaved a huge breath before he started. "I need to know everything that happened while I was away."

He frowned. "Shouldn't you be asking your _fukubuchou_ for those kinds of things? I have no idea what your team was up to before you came back – just that day when we played a practice game with your regulars as per your request –"

"I'm not asking about them. I already know."

"The other regulars from the other teams? Well, you're out of luck – King Sanada isn't too big on letting out surprises –"

"What have you been doing while I was away?"

The solemn question was answered with shocked silence.

Atobe's thoughts were on a confused whirl. _Is this some sort of joke? Does he think this is amusing?_ He felt sick. He was sure that Tezuka was asking if he had repented for everything he had done while he was away – thought things over on what pain his actions had caused...

"What do you want me to say?" He asked him incredulously, standing up, feeling all the guilt heaping upon him mercilessly. "That I had sleepless nights just thinking of everything that went wrong?"

"Do you expect me to say that the memory of your pain often cut me as if I was being slashed to the bone?" He dusted the seat of his pants angrily. "Did you call me out just to send me back to the guilt trip I was immersed in when I deliberated on whether or not I should go see you off to Germany?"

"That is not my intention."

The quietness and seeming misery of the admission made Atobe stop mid-tirade. His feet were now anchored on the spot where he stood – and he was unable to move. He stayed silent, waiting for the other to continue.

"I want to know if you've grown the past weeks I was gone... if you are still as driven as before." Tezuka took off his eyeglasses and stared up at the cloudless sky. "I want to know if you've evolved into someone else already."

"You talk as if you know me so well." Atobe commented quietly, turning towards the river, watching the current cut through the smoothness of its flow. "You ask questions as if we are friends."

Atobe wondered at the sadness that seemed to lurk deep in his eyes. All he wanted to do was chase the darkness away, but it would take time if he truly wanted it that way. He looked up and stared at the sky as well, cleansing his mind of all its impurities.

"Is the sky as blue in Germany as it is here?"

"You've been there."

He nodded at Tezuka's ready answer. "It was not as blue as it is now, that's all I can remember." He said almost inaudibly. "Just like how the sky looked like when you were away."

At that, a soft sound of contentment came from his companion, and he immediately relaxed. "It's perfectly blue in here... right now." He agreed a couple of heartbeats later.

Another bout of silence descended once again, thicker and more meaningful than before.

"Are we?" Tezuka asked softly, almost breathily, breaking the stillness.

"Hm?"

"Friends?"

Atobe shook his head and smiled down at him.

"Far beyond it."

He held out a hand to help him up...

With a small smile, Tezuka gripped it, hauling himself up.

And he didn't let go.

* * *

**ENDE**

* * *


End file.
